Parallel Lines
by Car-54
Summary: What happens after the end of the episode "Gwen 10". Beginning of Bwen relationship.
1. Chapter 1

They had just watched Vilgax ship blown apart, presumably with him in it. Although Ben knew not to make any assumptions where that squid was concerned.

Now they were back on the road. Max had the Omnitrix, and he seamed to like it.

Gwen could see that Ben was upset. He was trying to hide it but she could always see through him. In the bowling ally he seamed so empty. It wasn't just sour grapes about the game. She'd seen that before but this went much deeper. She turned to him. "Ben, are you okay?"

He looked at her. There was no point denying it. He sighed, "Its just that, well with the omnitrix I..." he paused for a moment. Did he really want to bare his feelings. He looked between the two people there and made his choice."...I finally amounted to something. At first it was just cool to be the hero, to get the cheers...I do, or did, still like that, but it's more than that. I could help people. I made a difference to them."

Gwen was touched, Ben may be a doofus but she thought that deeper, there was more to him. It hit her then that his doofus behavior was just to hide the fact that he'd felt like he was nothing and didn't know how to change that.

"Ben, you did make a difference. You didn't leave me on that ship with Vilgax. By the way, I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

Ben smiled weekly, "It's okay, I guess it must have sounded pretty crazy."

"Yeah, a little I guess." She found it hard to believe that she was saying that to him, but somehow he was different; it must be what ever had happened to him In the weeks that he said he'd lived before.

Max spoke up. "Gwen's right, Ben being a hero isn't about having some kind of special power. It's about stepping in to help in what ever way you can. And it takes more bravery to do it without power. Remember what I said on the ship?'

Ben's smile broadened some. "Yeah, I do."

"Ben you while Gwen was fighting the drones you got people out of the way Gwen wouldn't have been able to fight that battle without innocent people getting hurt." Max paused, "By the way, what happened when you fought that battle?"

"Pretty much the same thing...and you guys got the people out of the way."

"So you see Ben, as long as we work together we are all making a difference, and we're all heroes."

Ben was feeling a little better about things. He realized that he was valued, most of all by the two people he was with now.

Max had one more thing to say. "Ben the next thing I need you're help with is learning about how to use these aliens, I probably know most of them but I've never been one of them."

"No problem Grandpa."

"Great, we'll start tomorrow.

The next day was set aside for some practice.

"Okay Ben show me some more about how this works."

Ben walked over to Max and took his wrist. He then moved the dial on the Omnitrix. "You use this to choose the alien you want. Sometimes though I didn't get the one I was trying for. Could be a flaw in the watch but I think it's an advanced AI that decided I needed something different. Then when the face pops up you push it down and In a second you're an alien."

Max looked at the device. "Alright, just so I'm ready, what does it feel like."

"Like a bolt of lightning shooting through you but it's not hurting you; and what I didn't know until Gwen got the watch, there's a flash of green light. It's not the most subtle weapon. Also you get only a few minutes before it times out."

"That's inconvenient, I guess you really need to learn how to use your alien effectively."

Ben smirked. "Yeah, I think there may be a way to change that but I haven't found it. But it did force me to learn like you said. So..." Ben chose one of the aliens. "let's start with.."Ben slammed down and called out "FOURARMS"

In a flash Max was a huge red alien. "Wow" Ben said. "That's a lot bigger than my version."

"Might be because of my age. Ben do I need to call out the name?"

Ben rubbed the back of his head, "Uh, no, not really. I just get carried away sometimes."

That got a snicker from Gwen but she admitted, "I know what you mean. I did to."

Max worked with all ten of the aliens. He found strengths and weaknesses that Ben hadn't discovered, at least not as quickly as Max had. After spending the first half of the day with Max's training they broke for lunch, a normal lunch the kids were happy to see. When they finished Max turned to them. "Okay, you two, now it's your turn." Ben and Gwen gave each other puzzled looks, Max answered the unspoken question. "I'm going to need your help. "You guys are going to get some plumber training."

They were both pretty excited about that, especially Ben but his enthusiasm was starting to effect her.

They got weapons training, small hand held weapons and larger ones like the one Ben had used to blast Vilgax the day before.

"You guys are naturals. I'm proud of you. tomorrow I'll take you to a place where we can do some hand to hand training."

Ben looked at the date on his watch, one that just gave you time and date, well that and a calculator, and said. "Uh, Grandpa how about a trip to Washington first."

"Ben," Gwen asked, "Since when did you get interested in history?"

"Since a few weeks ago...The first time I did this. I think we have things to do there."

After a questioning look from Max and Gwen, Ben added. "We need to meet a guy named Animo."

Gwen couldn't help but notice that Ben looked kind of ashamed when he said that.


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay, Ben. Tell us about this Animo."

"He's some mad scientist kind of guy. He mutates all kinds of animals; and in DC he brought...or will bring...fossils back to life."

Gwen asked. "You mean like dinosaurs?"

"Yeah, and mutate other animals." He looked over to her, "Gwen, be careful."

"Why, what happened to me?"

"You came out okay, but it could have gone really bad. Just be careful."

Gwen was touched at his concern. This was different than the Ben she knew. He had never shown such interest in her well being. He wouldn't have been so worried about her...or would he. Maybe he had just been through things that had brought out how much she meant to him.

 _How did those things effect her._ She wondered, how had she changed in that world several weeks ahead of her own. _What kind of Gwen does he know?_

As she was reflecting on that she looked over at Ben. As when he'd first mentioned Animo he seamed...disquieted. She spoke to him.

"Ben...you look like something's wrong."

"Uh, yeah. It's just, well...Animo's big problem was that he didn't get what he thought he had coming to him." Gwen thought she saw where this might be going.

"After we beat him I kind of realized that I was doing the same thing, always talking about what I deserve, what I should get...You know me, me, me. I tried to use the watch to get it."

 _Wow! Is this really Ben?_ She moved over to sit next to him. "Ben, it sounds like you saw what you were doing and made the right decision to not be like that. Sounds to me like you did a lot of growing up in the last few weeks, or next few depending on how you look at it."

Ben smiled. He thought for a moment then put his arms around Gwen in a hug. She was a little caught off guard but returned the hug. She found that it felt nice. They separated. "Thanks Gwen."

In the front seat Max glanced at them from the mirror, happy to see them getting along so well. Suddenly so, although maybe not so sudden to Ben.

"Ben, what do you know about Animo?"

"Well first we have a fire to deal with." Then he turned to Gwen. "Lets find it the same way we did the first time. Gwen, could you look up Dr. Animo, Dr. Kelly and the Verities award."

They went on to Washington DC as Gwen did her research and Ben told them about what had happened "Before".

Ben told them where the fire would be, and about the crooks that were using it as a deversion.

Gwen asked, "Ben what do we need to do."

"Once we're there you and me just help grandpa however he tells us. That's all we can do." Those words stung but he knew they were true.

Gwen could see how much they hurt but she didn't know what to do. She did know she liked this new Ben.

When they arrived in DC everything was just the way Ben said it would be. Max went into the building as Heatblast with Ben and Gwen in plumbers suites because they were fire resistant and provided air, they did have to be used in space after all.

"Ben, where are the people trapped."

"This way grandpa. Gwen and I will take care of them you get the fire out."

Max smiled a little, for all he'd said about letting Max take the lead Ben seamed to be in command of the operation. They rescued the people in the building and then Max stopped the thieves. This time it was almost all Max. He then saw the slight hurt in Ben's expression.

But Ben never missed a beat. He was in a hurry to get to Animo

"Ben where can we find this guy?'

"Let's catch him at the supermarket. The one with the fresh..ugh...Squid."

Max knew the place. "Got it."

Ben told the others what he knew about Animo's plot and what they would run into at the store. They went into the store and began shopping...and waiting.

As they were shopping Ben went to the cereal aisle. Gwen noticed his absence. She went looking for him and found him looking at some junk cereal tied into his favorite video game. As she walked up to him he spoke.

"Gwen, remember what I told you about being so set on what I deserved?"

She nodded.

"Last time I was obsessed with the gold sumo slammer card. I thought that I deserved it, that I had it coming to me. Then after we stopped Animo I heard him say exactly the same thing about the verities award."

Ben was silent for a moment. "Gwen, am I just a glory hound?"

Gwen looked him in the eye. "Ben, a few days ago I would have said everything you just told me would be just what I would have expected from you, but now, well, you've matured in some way, so NO, I don't think that's who you are. At least not any more."

He smiled and was about to speak when they heard a loud crash. They knew it was Animo.

"Gwen," Ben turned to her as they both took out the plumber weapons that Grandpa had been teaching them to use. "Watch out for the bird. I can't go after you this time."

She wasn't sure what that meant but they went to back up their Grandpa.

Knowing what would happen the Tennysons were able to catch Animo at the M-Mart. As Animo was taken away he screamed about what was rightfully his. Just the way Ben remembered.

The manager of the store came over to thank them for what they'd done. As Ben remembered from before, he'd offered "Anything" in thanks. Max told him that wouldn't be necessary. Ben said nothing to contradict him and for once he was truly proud of himself...Gwen was proud of him to.


	3. Chapter 3

The next several weeks went a lot smother than the first time around. Thanks to Ben's foreknowledge they made short work of poachers, shape snifters and and bounty hunters

That cheesy tourist town was still fun. Ben and Gwen ran all over the town just playing together. Of course the guy who ran the place was just as obnoxious. This time thought they resisted the temptation to play with the rubber band ball, thanks to Ben's warning about what was inside it.

Still, it was the most fun they'd had in years, and it was great to spend it together.

About half an hour after they left Gwen was writing in her diary about the town and how much fun they she'd had there and how much she'd enjoyed the time she had been able to spend with Ben, just being kids together.

She looked up from the screen of her laptop to see Ben sitting at the table with the same look he'd had before they went to Washington. She went to sit by him.

"So from the look of you I'd guess we're about to run into another _don't let this happen to you_ lesson."

"Yeah Gwen. His name is Kevin Levin, I..I was mad. I was being, well, petulant...and I made a monster."

Ben told Gwen about his first meeting with Kevin, a look of shame on his face.

Her heart went out to him as he told her the story. Then he told her about Kevin's attempt to frame him for crimes Kevin had committed as one of Ben's aliens...and that she hadn't believed him.

Even thought none of this had happened for her she felt ashamed, wondering if she could ever do as her counterpart in that other world had; And it sent chills through her when Ben told her about this other Gwen chiding what she thought was Ben...and almost being incinerated by Kevin.

"He's bad seed Gwen. I thought maybe he could change but he can't. It's just who he is.

Gwen, when we run into him PLEASE be careful."

Gwen felt tears in the corner of her eyes as Ben expressed such heart felt concern for her.

"I will be Ben. Tell ya what. I'll stick close to you. We can take care of each other that way."

Ben smiled, then turned his attention to the front of the rustbucket. "Grandpa, did you hear that about Kevin?"

"Most of it Ben. I'll see that he doesn't get too close to the omnitrix."

Max turned his attention back to the road, a smile on his face at the close bond that seamed to be forming between his grandchildren. He didn't know exactly what had happened to Ben but it seemed to be for the better.

They did have a run in with the boy Ben had mentioned. Gwen noticed some similarities between this boy and her Ben. Both were handsome young men. Both had been mercilessly picked on. And both had power that meant they no longer needed to take that.

The difference was in what they did with that power. Ben said he has been tempted to turn the tables on his tormentors, to make them pay a price for how he'd been treated just like Kevin had, but he found that it just wasn't him...She could have told him that.

In the end Kevin was still out there, but without anything from the omnitrix. Still, Ben was sure they would see him again someday...

They ran into Rojo, just as Ben knew they would, but again with Ben's knowledge, they dealt with that easily. And there was no Vilgax to worry about.

Again though, Ben had a story for them about the first time he'd been through this.

Gwen was both touched that he would face everything alone to protect them and angry that he would leave them. The story brought it into focus for her...They were a team, they needed each other.

As they continued on the road Ben mentioned that they needed to check out a local circus.

"Ben, you mean you WANT to go to a circus...you know there are clowns there right?"

Ben smiled at her, he knew she would be disappointed by what he was about to tell her. "Yeah, I know. That won't be a problem."

"Okay, I have to hear this story."

She was stunned at what he told her. This boy who couldn't eat at "Charlie in the box" because of all of the clown images there. Had faced, and conquered, his greatest fear to save her.

"I was terrified, but I couldn't leave you to him." He'd said in an unusually emotional moment for him.

This time there was no holding the tears back as she embraced him.

"Thanks dweeb" She said, emphasizing it with a kiss on the cheek.

Ben turned a little red. "Anytime doofus."

Sitting there listing to them, Max was trying to decided if he was reading too much into what he'd seen from them recently. He'd have to give that some thought.

Once again, they dealt with this problem with very little trouble. Gwen was amazed at his complete lack of fear when facing a clown that really was something to be afraid of.

Max knew right away which alien to use. Then Ben confirmed that he'd used the same one...Ghostfreak.

Something about that one thought had bothered Max. He'd decided to save that alien for only the most desperate situations.

Later, when they were back on the road again, Max turned to Ben, "So anything interesting coming up?"

"Oh, yeah." He looked at his cousin. "Something special for Gwen. We're going to a museum."

"Well, I did have something like that in mind."

"Yeah, I know." they all laughed at that.

They went in ready for Hex. It was kind of mind blowing for Ben to see the same scene he'd lived out before. Gwen gave the same information on the Arkamada book of spells, gaining the same sarcastic response from the tour guide.

Ben made the same joke about "Mummy face" being older than the book, resulting in the same laughter from Gwen. He'd come to really enjoy the sound of her laugh.

Hex did attack of course. This time things weren't too different in the first battle. Of course there was no, _Who's your hero_ moment afterwords, and Max didn't worry about souvenirs like Ben used to but Ben made it a point to get the luck charm.

Back in the rustbucket as he sat across from Gwen. He remembered how much she enjoyed being Lucky Girl.

He remembered their arguments about being a hero just because of some object and he remembered being kind of a jerk about insisting that he was the only real hero among them.

It was kind of funny that she had said that she would have been the big hero if she had found the Omnitrix. He couldn't hold back a slight chuckle.

Gwen gave him a puzzled look. "What's so funny?"

" Oh, uh, nothing. I have something for you." He held out the charm.

"Thanks...What is it?"

"Look up the luck charm of Bezel."

She did and was amazed. Then it struck her..."Ben, if you kept this you could be a hero again."

"Gwen, I know it still sound strange to you when I talk about before but I just remember what it meant to you to be Lucky Girl."

"Lucky Girl?"

"Your hero name." That got Gwen's attention.

"That reminds me. Grandpa, we have another stop to make."

They stopped as Ben requested. Ben went to the same stand that Gwen had gone to and found the mask that he wanted. He looked at his watch. He turned to Max.

"You guys need to stay here. We...You're going to have some purse snatchers to deal with in a few minutes...I'll go put the mask in the rustbucket."

Gwen felt awful seeing how dejected Ben seemed to be, but soon had to turn her attention to the thugs Ben had told them to expect. Max had stood to stop them and they were advancing on him and Gwen.

As Gwen was looking for some way to deal with these punks the charm started to glow...Then an energy beam hit the leader of the thieves.

Gwen turned around to see Ben with a plumber weapon in his hand. She couldn't help noticing how handsome and, yes, heroic, he looked standing there.

Max had taken the opportunity to get the advantage on the other thieves and Gwen went for the purse so she could return it to it's owner.

Later, as she and Ben were putting together her Lucky Girl costume she asked him. "So, why did you come back to fight. I thought you'd decided it was a fight for me and Grandpa."

"I guess it just kind of came to me that you didn't sulk about not having powers before so I should do what I could, just the way you...or I guess the other you, did."

She threw her arms around him and held him in a hug. "You know, You're turning out to be a pretty amazing guy Ben."

This was the second time in the last few days that she'd held him in an embrace. She was starting to like it.

As they were on their way to the water park Ben told his story about _the organization_. Gwen's stomach dropped when she heard that Ben was almost dissected alive. Even as he related the story she could see the shadow of the sadness and fear he'd felt then. She squeezed his hand, he turned to her and the dejected, doomed look faded from his eyes. It made her heart leap.

Ben wondered if he'd get the same cold that he did last time. He got his answer.

They dealt with Clancy as before. Although they had to do it in a different way; But, as so many times already, advanced knowledge allowed them to solve the problem more easily.

Afterwords Gwen was browsing what ever caught her interest on her laptop. She hear a groan from the bunks. She could almost feel the misery in it.

She closed her laptop and made a cup of soup. She brought it to him along with some medicine.

"Ben?"

The only response was another groan.

"Brought you some soup."

Sluggishly, he dropped out of bed. "Ugh, thanks Gwen." he said as he took the cup from her.

She smiled, "You're welcome." She decided at the last second to drop _dweeb_ from that. It just wasn't the time for their verbal sparing.

"Just be glad it's not Grandpa with this." Ben said.

Ben had told her about what this same cold had done to him last time. Gwen laughed lightly. "Yeah, I don't need to deal with four rancid armpits."

"Ha, yeah, or a wildmut sneeze."

He'd laughed a little. _A good sign,_ Gwen though.

When he had taken his medicine and finished his soup Gwen took the bowl. "Now, lay back here," She patted on her bed, "and get some rest."

"Uh, okay." He would normally argue about that but he just didn't feel up to it. He laid back on the bunk.

Gwen helped him get the blanket on, then sat next to him, lightly stroking his hair. As he closed his eyes she couldn't help but notice how handsome he was becoming. As he drifted off to sleep, her mind went to how much he had come to mean to her. They had always been close...in their own odd way, But with this road trip, something was different,She was feeling an attachment to him, in a way she hadn't before.

Then it occurred to her that she was thinking the way a girl normally thinks about a crush.

Is that what she had? She didn't know, but she knew she loved the boy who's hair she was stroking now. Just what that meant she would deal with later.

A couple of days later, as Max stopped the Rustbucket for the evening, he heard his grandchildren talking and laughing. The sound put a smile on his face. As did another fact that he was about to tell them about.

He walked back and sat with the kids. "Seams like you're doing better Ben."

"Yeah, I'm doing great."

"Good to hear it. I've got a surprise for you two. You're going to get to meet my old partner from my plumber days, Phil Billings."

Max noticed a troubled look on Ben's face. "Ben, I don't suppose you have something we need to know about the next few days?"

In an apologetic tone Ben answered, "Uh, yeah Grandpa, I do, but you're not going to like it."

"Okay, well tell us." Max said somewhat reluctantly.

Ben told them all about Phil's scam to recapture aliens from the null void. It felt like a lead weight in Max's stomach to hear this. Some part of him wanted to yell at Ben that Phil could never do that, but he knew that in at least one reality he had. Max would do what he had to if that happened.

It did happen. This time they didn't have to trap Phil in the null void but Max wondered if they shouldn't have. He knew they would probably see Phil again.

Shortly after that they went to Yellowstone and, of course, had to deal with the giant tick. Ben helped Max unlock Canonbolt and they destroyed the tick and, with some effort, convinced it's followers to find another "Great one"

A few days later Ben and Gwen were getting ready for bed. Gwen could see that Ben was troubled.

She sat next to him. "What's wrong dweeb"

He sighed, "In the other time. I mean you know before...when I had the omnitirx. Well today was my last day there.

I woke up the next day and it was the first day of the trip again."

He looked at her plaintively, "Gwen, I'm afraid to go to sleep."

She put an arm around his shoulders. "Ben, you can't stay awake forever. You have to sleep sometime."

"I know. It's just...I don't know what happened. I mean did I disappear from that world, did the whole world disappear, or did everything go on just like normal for them. What happened to the other Gwen, is she okay."

She tried to give him a reassuring smile. But what could she say to that.

She decided, "Ben we can't know what happened to you or them. And we won't know about tomorrow until tomorrow."

"Please don't start singing."

She laughed, and that seamed to get a little bit of a smile from him.

"Don't worry, I won't. And you watch too may Disney cartoons."

"Okay." he said, then he turned to face her. "Gwen, in case I'm not here in the morning...you know I love you, right."

She responded by leaning toward him and placing a gentle kiss on his lips that said it all.

Ben answered by taking her into a hug. They separated and just looked at each other for a moment. "I...guess we should try to get some sleep." Gwen said.

"Yeah, I guess so."

They each got into there bunks and settled in, waiting to see what the morning would bring.


	4. Chapter 4

Ben woke the next morning. Realization slowly dawned on him that he needed to find out where he was...and what date it was.

He looked at his wrist. He didn't have the omntirix. So either he was still where he'd gone to sleep or he was back at the beginning...again.

About then Gwen was waking to. She got out of her bunk and looked over to Ben. "Well looks like your still here." She walked over to him and gave him a hug adding, "I'm glad."

He smiled at her. "So am I."

They walked to the table together, Ben looked over and confirmed that Max has the Omnitrix.

"Well, Ben," Max said, "Glad to see your still with us."

"Thanks Grandpa, so am I."

"We'll have to do some more training with plumber and alien weapons. You really seem to have the knack for it."

They continued their road trip with stops for training, fun stops and, of course, the occasional need for a team of heroes.

They encountered another set of heroes in the Galactic Enforcers. Max, however, was the only one acknowledged by the enforcers as a hero. Gwen and Ben had to stay behind while Max was given a tour of their HQ.

"Looks like we've been relegated to sidekick status." Gwen commented with some annoyance.

"Yeah as far as the galactic enforcers are conserved."

"That doesn't bother you."

"A little maybe, But Grandpa doesn't see us that way."

Gwen smiled. "Wow Ben you really are maturing. I like it."

He smiled at her, "Here," he said breaking off a piece of his candy bar. "Have a piece of chocolate while we wait."

She returned his smile as she savored the chocolate, and the growing bond between her and Ben.

The heroic trio continued their travels and their fights with aliens and criminals. The eventually ran into Hex again, this time with his niece Charmcaster. As Max made expert use of the Omnitirx Gwen and Ben managed to get Hex's staff, playing "Keep away" from the enraged sorcerer and his niece, using it against them.

Max didn't fail to notice that his grand-kids had been able to use the sorcerer's staff, though they didn't seam to be thinking about it.

In the end Hex and Charmcaster had been defeated and the charms were in the possession of the Tennysons.

Later, in the rustbucket Max walked over to the table as the kids were looking at the charms, trying to decide who would carry which one.

"Well, you can't be lucky girl without the luck charm so that's yours. I also think you should have the resurrection one"

Gwen answered, "I was thinking luck, the keystone and telekinesis. It would be so cool to fly."

"Okay. Take any that you want but please take the resurrection charm, please."

She gave him a puzzled look, but she thought she knew what he was thinking.

He continued. "I...can't risk loosing you okay. This can bring you back if it's needed."

She almost protested that she had the same concern about him but, supposing it was just the desperate expression on his face, she decided this time to let him have his way. Then she said a silent prayer that she wouldn't regret that someday.

"Okay, how about I take the luck, resurrection and the keystone and you take Pyro, telle and electro."

"Okay done." Ben said.

With that decided, Max had a subject to approach. "Well kids, you did a great job back there. You handled that staff like pros."

"Thanks Grandpa." they said in unison.

"And that," Max continued, "brings me to another subject. Not just anyone can use a magic talisman like that. It's time for you to learn about your Grandma."

That got the kids attention. Max started. "Her name was Elizabeth. Phil and I were after an alien fugitive. His home planet knew he was hiding on earth and had asked for our help. Wanting good relations with them, and not wanting an criminal alien roaming earth, the plumbers had agreed to help.

We had tracked him down and had him cornered, but you know what they say about a wounded animal. He told us he had no intention of being taken alive. Then he pulled out a vile about the size of a pen. He told us it was an explosive that could level most of that city.

We'd been told that he had stolen just such an explosive, so we were in a stand off.

Well, as Phil and I were trying to decide what to do we heard him yelling. The vile had been taken out of his hand and was floating away. We didn't wait, we moved in and took him into custody easily.

After he was taken away by some other plumbers we met our unexpected ally."

Ben and Gwen could see Max's expression change as, in his memories he relived his first meeting with his wife.

"She was so beautiful. There was a kindness in her eyes, but strength to." He turned to Gwen. "You bear a strong resemblance to her Gwen."

He continued. "I introduced myself and my partner. She introduced herself, Elizabeth Macbeth. She'd seen what was happening and thought she might be able to help.

I told her she was certainly right about that. It was then I asked if I could treat her to dinner in thanks. Fortunately for me, she accepted."

Max couldn't help but notice that Gwen, caught up in the romantic story, had moved her hand over Ben's. He'd need to talk to them soon about what seamed to be happening, and if they really wanted that to happen.

For now he went on with the story.

"At dinner I told her a little about myself and asked how she'd done what she did with that vial.

She told me that she came from a long line of magic users, she claimed going all the way back to Merlin.

Well, I could spend all day and then some telling you about those days but suffice to say it wasn't long before I went on one knee and presented her with a ring.

I'm telling you this not just for the sake of a romantic story but to tell you that this may be why you two were able to use Hex's staff. You probably inherited magic ability from your grandmother."

"That is so awesome." Gwen said. Ben added. "But why can't our dads do it."

Max smiled. "They probably could if they tried. But they don't know it."

Ben asked, "Why didn't you ever tell them."

Max's expression fell, "I didn't want to lose them they way I lost Elizabeth. I just told them she became sick and passed away. The truth is she was killed by a group called the forever knights. They've decided that it's there job to protect the earth form aliens and magic users." Max looked at his grandkids, "She would have been so proud to see the two of you."

"We will make her proud Grandpa." Ben said, to which Gwen added, "We'll make both of you proud."

"I know you will. Lets get some dinner...Then I have something else I want to talk to you about.


	5. Chapter 5

The Tennysons sat down for dinner, a normal dinner much to Ben and Gwen's relief.

After they ate Max started the conversation he wanted to have with the kids.

"I want to start by telling you some stories about when I was a plumber."

Ben was momentarily tempted to crack a joke... _Warning, old man reminiscing..._ But thought better of it. Grandpa seamed to have something more important than a trip down memory lane in mind.

"I told you two earlier about your grandmother. I was always faithful to her...but there was one time when I was tempted, She was a Uxorite named Xylene. She often worked with the plumbers and was considered an honorary plumber herself.

She and I hit it off immediately and quickly became much more than friends."

"And," Gwen asked, "You were already in love with grandma when this happened?"

Max nodded. "I actually met Xylene before I met your grandma. For a while I might have chosen either of them. I guess the only reason I choose Elizabeth was the fact that I wanted a family. Uxorites are reptiles, they lay eggs so we aren't genetically comparable.

Xylene knew I wanted a family although she couldn't understand a desire to raise children, she accepted that humans often do have it."

"Did grandma know about her?" Ben asked.

Again Max nodded. "When things got serious between us we decided that we needed to lay or cards on the table about past relationships. She told me about a couple of past boyfriends and I told her about the alien woman that I had feelings for. But that the relationship would always be limited by...genetic incompatibility; and I told her that I had already spoken to Xylene about it. She was sad but said we'd always have Roswell."

"Roswell?" Ben interrupted, "Do you mean..."

"Yeah Ben, that Roswell.

I'm telling you about her so you'll know that I get the idea of..unusual, relationships. In fact," Max digressed for a moment. "My nephew Joel is going to marry an alien soon. I was going to tell you we've been invited.

But that's not the point." He paused for a moment. If he was misreading them they might get very angry with him when he said this...But it was rare that he misread these two. "Kids, I've noticed the growing relationship between the two of you.

It seams to be going beyond what you usually see between cousins, at least in this country. What are your feelings for each other? Are you close cousins or is there more to it?"

"I..um..well.." Ben stammered while rubbing the back of his neck. That all but confirmed it for Max. Then Gwen answered.

"I've kind of been avoiding facing that question for a while now. I know that I've been feeling some pretty strong feelings for Ben and kind of knew what they were, but I also know it's not likely to go over very well with, well, anyone."

"Yeah, same with me grandpa." Ben said. "I guess I shouldn't feel the way I do but I can't convince myself that I don't...Sooo, what should we do grandpa?"

"Uh, yeah." Gwen echoed Ben's sentiment. "I mean, should we try to, I don't know, get past it. I...I don't know if I can."

"I can't answer that for you." Max answered. "Relationships like this are allowed in other parts of the world, and the galaxy for that matter, but not here in the states. I wouldn't expect a very good reception from your families." He paused. "On the other hand, some of us are more open minded. I think you'll hit it off with Camille when you meet her."

"Camille?" Ben asked.

"Yes, Joel's fiance. Maybe you just need to keep it under wraps just like she and Joel will have to. Except when you're around people who understand."

Gwen was momentarily lost in a romantic fantasy about a secret love. Ben snapped her out of her reverie.

"Kind of hard to do that." He interrupted his own thought, "Can Camille look human?"

"Yes she can. She can take on almost any appearance."

"So she can just be Joel's human wife to most of the world. We would have to pretend that there's nothing going on, that we're just to average cousins...And what about when people start to notice that we aren't going on dates. The big man on campus ask Gwen out and she says no, or the girl that is driving all the guys crazy is looking at me and I turn her down."

Gwen thought out loud about their options. "Either we go on decoy dates, and I don't think that would go well very long, OR we just let people wonder...and speculate...about why two teenagers aren't interested in dating...but sure do seam to hang out together a lot."

"Yeah," Ben agreed. "With the decoy dates I, I hate to admit it but I think jealousy would get to me sooner or later; and Gwen, I really think the same would happen to you."

"You're probably right. Then what If a decoy date got too serious. The best case would be blowing the act by turning them down."

Max had an idea where this was going but thought it best to let the kids get there on their own.

"So," Ben continued, "We will probably have to just tell people the that we haven't found anyone we want to go out with. They'll talk and speculate and every kind of rumor will start but we just can't let it bother us...And hope we can keep up the act until we're grown and then we don't really need to worry about who doesn't like our choice."

Gwen added, "Unless we find a boy and girl we can trust with our secret to play along with fake dates." As she said it she thought it sounded silly. She added, "Not likely I guess."

Max took a more serious tone. "I also want you two to remember that first loves are rarely life long ones. Not many marry their childhood sweethearts. Not saying that it doesn't happen, just that it usually doesn't happen. I want a commitment from you that, if this romance doesn't last you will still care for each other as cousins."

Max couldn't believe he was making a statement like that. The whole idea did seam strange to him and he wasn't sure it was right; but he had been involved with a reptile. Had family not been impossible with her, she would have been his wife before he'd met Elizabeth. So he felt it would be hypocritical to refuse to give them a fair chance.

The two kids answered his request in unison. "We'll do that grandpa."

"Okay good. And I have a surprise for you. We're going to spend a few days at a resort owned by a friend of mine. It's an under water resort."


End file.
